Something Magical
by FishwichForMyLove
Summary: Amelia is fascinated by the new girl in town, but is in for a surprise when she stumbles upon her in the woods one day.


**A/N: Anonymous on tumblr requested the prompt "something magical", and because I am oh so clever, that is also the title of the story. didn't specify anything else, so I hope preteen nyotalia human au nonsense is cool with you, anon.**

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Amelia first saw the strange little girl the week before Halloween. It wasn't right to call her little, and she wasn't trying to be mean. They would probably be in the same grade once the family got settled in and the girl started school. But she seemed so small to Amelia, like one of those fancy porcelain dolls her grandma had all over her house. Just not as creepy, not to Amelia anyway. Other kids called her creepy, said her house was haunted, but they couldn't really blame that on the girl. People had called the house at the end of the road haunted for as long as Amelia could remember.

She'd waved to her once, at the grocery store. The girl had looked down at her shiny black rain boots and ignored her, wringing her hands in their little black gloves. She always had them on for some reason. Maybe she was always cold, Amelia had thought, before being prodded along by her mother and scolded for staring.

Amelia's mother didn't like the new girl or her mother. She called them weird, but Amelia knew that was just because the mom didn't have a husband and that was bad for some reason. She still smiled nice and fake when they went to their house to trick or treat, and asked the girl's mom if they had gotten all unpacked yet. Her mom nodded, reddish brown curls bobbing, but Amelia wasn't paying attention, instead trying to peer into the dark house. The girl didn't come to the door. Amelia's mother poked her to say thank you for the big, fresh candy apple, but made her throw it away as soon as they got home. That made Amelia sad, since it had been so pretty and shiny and smelled like sweet cinnamon. But she did learn that the girl's name was Elizabeth.

Someone egged Elizabeth's house that night, and Amelia didn't see her for a long time after that. She rode her bike as far down the road as she dared a few times, squinting for a glimpse of something different. The only thing that changed was the overnight appearance of thick rose bushes pressing up against the gate surrounding the house, blocking the yard from view. They bloomed even when the frosts started.

Elizabeth never came to school like Amelia thought she would. Maybe her mom was a teacher and she learned at home. That might be fun, Amelia thought, but very lonely. She asked her mother if she could ask Elizabeth over to play, but her mother said no. She said she was probably sick, or why else would she stay in the house all the time and dress so bundled up? Amelia was sent to her room for sassing back and pointing out it was winter and everyone was bundled up.

Winter break started with a light sprinkling of snow. Amelia spent the afternoon riding her bike through the neighborhood, watching her breath mist away like dragon smoke as she sped down the path by the woody area of the park. Her face and hands tingled ferociously, and she knew her fingers would prickle and hurt when she got back inside where it was warm. She wished she had brought her gloves, and that made her think of Elizabeth. Amelia was so lost in thought that she didn't realize how far she'd ridden past the park, now surrounded by cold, grey trees on either side of the path. She'd be in trouble for sure if her mother found out, and she didn't want to spend her break grounded.

She coasted a wide, lazy circle to turn around and head back home when she saw a dark spot moving between the trees. For a moment she froze in fear, thinking it could be a bear or a wolf or something else dangerous and scary. Ivan said he'd seen a bear before, but he told tall tales. But she realized that the dark spot wasn't big enough to be a bear, or even a grown-up. There was a flash of yellow-y blonde on top of the dark spot, and Amelia's heart raced. She pulled over to the side of the path, abandoned her bike, and followed Elizabeth into the trees.

Something told her she shouldn't call out to the little black shape trudging through the woods. She kept up as best she could, stumbling over rocks and rotting stumps, trying not to make too much noise from stepping on snapping sticks or kicking smaller stones out of her way. No matter how quickly she walked, Elizabeth was faster. She didn't seem to be having a hard time trudging through the dead leaves and needles and clumps of wet, dirty snow. Amelia was huffing and mud splattered by the time she caught up to the small clearing where Elizabeth stood, staring at something on the ground.

Amelia hid behind an almost barren bush, still not sure she should reveal herself. There was something thrilling about spying on the strange girl, like she could get in trouble even though nothing bad was happening. Her heart beat was making weird whooshy noises in her ears and suddenly she didn't feel as cold as before. Amelia rubbed her hot cheeks, breath still fogging up in front of her face, and watched as Elizabeth kneeled on the ground.

Elizabeth's shoulders were shaking, almost like she was shivering. It wasn't until she brushed a hand under her eye that Amelia realized Elizabeth was crying. She watched as Elizabeth took a deep breath and looked up at the circle of grey sky between the trees, waiting like she was deciding something. Then she tossed both of her braided pigtails over her shoulders and sat up straighter, peeling her gloves off for the first time Amelia had ever seen. Her hands were pale, with long, delicate fingers. Amelia wondered if she played piano. She had tried taking lessons once, but she wasn't very good at it. Her mother had said her hands were too stubby, but really it was because Amelia didn't like to practice. She clenched her hands, suddenly aware again of how cold it was, and worried that Elizabeth would be cold, too. She stood, ready to call out and see what she was doing, when Elizabeth picked up something in her pretty hands.

It was a little bird, brown and white and lifeless. Amelia was grossed out that she would touch something dead, but that feeling quickly turned to awe as she watched what happened next. Elizabeth closed her eyes and began to whisper something, getting faster and faster. Amelia's ears buzzed and whined, then went deaf, like they had been stuffed with cotton balls. Everything in the trees was still except for Elizabeth.

Amelia thought her eyes were playing tricks on her, that the strange glow around Elizabeth's hands was from her staring for so long. But no matter how much she blinked, the glow only got brighter, a soft golden green color that pulsed like a heart beat and shifted like fog. The colors wrapped themselves around the dead bird and burned a bright white for a split second before blinking out. Sound flooded her ears again and tears filled Amelia's eyes as the bird peeped a few times and then flew away. She wasn't sure if it was the cold or the bright light or the shock making her eyes well up, and she couldn't hold back the sniffle that alerted Elizabeth to her presence.

"What are you doing here?" Elizabeth yelled, scrambling to her feet. It was the first time Amelia had ever heard her voice, high and with a funny accent, but still lovely, even with her yelling. The knees of her black pants were covered in mud and pine needles, and her face was cherry red and streaked with wet marks.

"I—"

"Why are you following me? You shouldn't be here." Elizabeth charged over to the bush Amelia was hiding behind, then turned a ghostly white and turned around to pick up her gloves. "You didn't see anything, do you understand? You can't tell anyone, not my mum, not anyone. Ever."

"I won't, I don't want to—"

Elizabeth stamped over again, trying to pull one of the gloves on, but getting the fingers twisted. She scowled at Amelia, who was still cemented in place by a feeling somewhere between fear and excitement, and swung a wide path around her back the way they'd come.

"You'd better not. And anyway, everyone will think you're crazy," she called over her shoulder.

Amelia couldn't think of anything to say for a moment, then took off after Elizabeth, nearly falling flat on her face as she ran to catch up.

"You saved it! You saved the bird! You're— you have— are you a—?"

"A what?" Elizabeth shrieked, and spun around, her expression both scared and angry.

The right word failed to appear in Amelia's mouth, so instead she reached for Elizabeth's hands, one still only halfway in its glove, wanting so bad to touch the skin that had glowed and sparked. Elizabeth pulled her hand away with a hiss, holding the pink palm to her chest.

"Don't— don't touch me! You can't. It'll hurt." She took a few rushed and clumsy steps back.

"I don't want to hurt you, I just want to see—"

"No! I'll hurt you," she exclaimed, then turned to run back toward the path.

Amelia followed again without thinking, this time gaining on her enough to almost reach out and snag the back of her black coat. She put her arm out to grab her just as Elizabeth lost her footing and tumbled to the ground, and Amelia couldn't stop fast enough to keep from slamming into her. The world turned upside down, and then Amelia felt a sharp pain in her elbow and tasted dirt in her mouth. She spat and wiped her face on her sleeve, sitting up with a dizzy feeling.

Elizabeth was crumpled a few feet away from her, clutching her wrist and staring down at her left palm, the skin not covered by the glove split open and leaking blood. She sobbed and tried to sit up, red drops falling down into the dirt.

"Wait! Don't move," Amelia said, digging in her jacket pocket for the packet of tissues her mother insisted she take with her everywhere.

"No, d-don't," Elizabeth begged, lower lip trembling as she tried to keep her hand away from Amelia.

"Hold on, let me see it!"

Amelia snatched up Elizabeth's hands and pressed a few folded up tissues onto the cut, watching the red filter slowly through each layer. Elizabeth's hand felt way warmer than it should have, and softer than anything Amelia had ever touched. She didn't even realize she was running her thumb over the slight ridges of her knuckles until Elizabeth gasped and tried to jerk her hand away again.

"Don't, we have to keep pressure on it, I think."

"You're touching me."

"I had to. You're hurt."

"But you're okay."

"Yeah?" Amelia didn't understand what Elizabeth meant, and put a new stack of tissues over the cut. No red seeped through this time.

"You're okay."

"You're okay, too," Amelia said slowly, exaggerating each word. She didn't understand why Elizabeth was acting dumb. Maybe she was just scared.

Amelia stood and pulled Elizabeth up with her, keeping their palms pressed together. It was just to make sure that the bleeding didn't get bad again, she told herself, but an excited little flip in her stomach said otherwise. Elizabeth looked down at their connected hands, cheeks going red again.

"You don't have to tell me everything if you don't want to. And I won't tell anyone about the bird. I promise. But can I at least walk you home?"

Elizabeth nodded slowly, green eyes wide. She looked Amelia up and down like she couldn't believe she was real. It made Amelia's skin tickle and feel warm.

"C'mon."

It was a bit of a struggle for Amelia to steer her bike with one hand, and hold Elizabeth's in her other, but eventually they made it to the house at the end of the road. Elizabeth's mom answered the door, and Amelia realized they hadn't come up with a good lie to tell about why they were hurt and covered in mud yet.

But it turned out that they didn't need it. Her mom took one look at their hands, then at Elizabeth's face, eyes tearing up and a hand covering the smile on her lips. She laughed and wiped her eyes, giving Amelia a look like she knew all her secrets, but somehow that didn't scare Amelia at all. She smiled back and gripped Elizabeth's hand tighter.

"Well, why don't you come in for a chat, Miss Amelia?"

Amelia nodded, then looked at Elizabeth for permission. Elizabeth didn't look at her directly, but Amelia could have sworn she smiled, too, as she tugged Amelia into the house, hand small and warm and soft in her own.


End file.
